{"id":61842,"date":"2025-11-23T16:48:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T16:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61842\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T16:48:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T16:48:20","slug":"cooper-flagg-faces-cedric-coward-in-top-rookie-matchup-on-saturday-nov-22-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61842\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Flagg Faces Cedric Coward In Top Rookie Matchup On Saturday (Nov. 22, 2025)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Mavericks return to American Airlines Center on Saturday night for the second half of a back-to-back, looking to build on Friday\u2019s 118\u2013115 win over the New Orleans Pelicans \u2014 a game defined by Max Christie<\/a>\u2019s perimeter shooting, Cooper Flagg<\/a>\u2019s late-game execution, and Dereck Lively II<\/a>\u2019s carefully managed minutes.<\/p>\n

Dallas (5\u201312) enters the matchup having played 10 games in 16 days, including three back-to-backs and a pair of overtime contests. Fatigue is unavoidable, but the group showed needed composure on Friday, closing out a tight game after weeks of frustrating finishes.<\/p>\n

Memphis (5\u201311) arrives with momentum from a 137\u201396 blowout of Sacramento \u2014 a win highlighted by 42 assists on 50 made field goals and the steady play of rookie Cedric Coward<\/a> and forward Santi Aldama<\/a>. The Grizzlies will again be without Ja Morant<\/a>, who remains sidelined with a calf injury, while Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/a> is doubtful after twisting an ankle earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

How to Watch Dallas Mavericks vs. Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n

Date: Saturday, Nov. 22
Time: 7:30 p.m. CST
Location: American Airlines Center \u2014 Dallas, TX
TV: KFAA-29, MavsTV Stream
Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
Tickets: Mavs.com<\/p>\n

Dallas Mavericks Injury Report vs. Memphis Grizzlies:<\/p>\n

Memphis Grizzlies Injury Report vs. Dallas Mavericks:<\/p>\n

Max Christie<\/a>\u2019s Growth Continues to Shine<\/p>\n

Max Christie\u2019s breakout season was on full display Friday night.<\/p>\n

The second-year guard drilled five three-pointers and scored a season-best 23 points, boosting his averages to 12.9 points per game on an elite 46.9% from three-point range. Early in the first quarter, after waiting in the weak-side corner for the ball to swing his way, Christie buried a wide-open three \u2014 prompting Klay Thompson<\/a> to rise from the bench with arms raised and fists clenched.<\/p>\n

Jason Kidd<\/a> highlighted how far Christie has come.<\/p>\n

\u201cMax had an incredible summer,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cHe worked extremely hard on his game and it\u2019s paying off for him. He is shooting extremely well from the corner. I think we\u2019re all surprised if it doesn\u2019t go in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kidd added that the next step in Christie\u2019s evolution will be leveraging hard closeouts to diversify his scoring.<\/p>\n

Christie said the key has been trusting his work \u2014 and enjoying the feeling of finishing a close game.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeels good, for sure,\u201d Christie said. \u201cThis is a good feeling for us as a group to be able to close a situation out. It feels good to pull one out and get a win. It was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg\u2019s Late-Game Maturity<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg continues to show why the Mavericks trust him in crunch time. Flagg recorded a season-best 29 points, seven rebounds, and five assists against New Orleans, punctuated by two decisive plays: a contested spinning bank shot and a kick-out to Naji Marshall<\/a> for the go-ahead three.<\/p>\n

Jason Kidd<\/a> praised Flagg\u2019s fearlessness.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done that for us all season \u2013 the big rebounds, a big block, a big basket,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cClutch, he\u2019s not afraid. For an 18-year-old, that\u2019s pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flagg acknowledged that this season has included more losing than he\u2019s ever experienced, but he\u2019s learning from the veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the biggest things I\u2019ve learned \u2014 just being even-keeled all the time,\u201d Flagg said. \u201cEvery game we\u2019re saying we need a win, but just trying to push that back and play free out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flagg is now averaging 16.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 16 games, and 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists over his last six.<\/p>\n

Dereck Lively II Working Through a Minutes Restriction<\/p>\n

Dereck Lively II remains capped at 15 to 18 minutes per game as he continues to work back from offseason foot surgery and an early-season knee sprain. Kidd explained how difficult this phase is.<\/p>\n

\u201cRestricted time, the 15 to 18 minutes \u2014 I know he feels he can play more,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cThis is the hardest part because he wants to help his team in all categories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lively played most of his minutes in the second half Friday, providing strong defensive activity.<\/p>\n

Scouting the Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n

EEven with several key players unavailable, Memphis still presents meaningful challenges. Forward Santi Aldama<\/a> has been a steady contributor, averaging 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds, while rookie wing Cedric Coward<\/a> has added 14.6 points and 6.3 rebounds, emerging as one of the team\u2019s most reliable options.<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies played one of their most fluid offensive games of the season in Thursday\u2019s win over Sacramento, generating 42 assists on 50 made field goals. Rookie Vince Williams Jr.<\/a> took over primary playmaking duties in Ja Morant\u2019s absence and finished with 15 assists, showing strong command of the offense.<\/p>\n

For Dallas, the biggest obstacle may simply be the physical and mental fatigue of a grueling schedule. Saturday marks the Mavericks\u2019 tenth game in 16 days, including their fifth contest in seven days.<\/p>\n

Still, with strong performances from Max Christie, Cooper Flagg, Naji Marshall<\/a>, and others, the Mavericks will aim to close the back-to-back on a positive note and secure another much-needed win.<\/p>\n

Latest Dallas Mavericks News & NBA Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Mavericks return to American Airlines Center on Saturday night for the second half of a back-to-back,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[32711,4642,102,104,2582,103,4280,4645,4851,3080,29030],"class_list":["post-61842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-cedric-coward","tag-cooper-flagg","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dallas-news","tag-jason-kidd","tag-max-christie","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-nba","tag-nba-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}